Off-Grid Energy Technologies used in Rural Areas of India

Energy scenario in India is changing with a greater pace. Growth rate of villages has increased, likewise their energy demand. With the awareness of the decreasing natural resources, non conventional energy resources are gaining lots of interest in sparsely separated areas. The rural areas of India are having the huge scarcity of energy because of limited energy resources and Grid connectivity is not feasible due to economic factors and geographical situations. So we require to establish the off grid system for the benefit of the mass. Off-grid System’s commissioning and operation done as indigenous unit, and free from grid related problems like frequency and voltage regulations and they provides flexible operation because their emphasis is on extraction of energy and conversion into useful work. This paper discusses the potential use of off-grid energy technologies as an alternative for grid extension. Off-grid Energy systems provide the solutions to the basic energy needs in the rural areas of India. These indigenously build plants are not connected to any electrical utility and can be connected with the micro grid for the better reliable operation. Due to small size their demand and load management would be easy. Off-grid system utilizes the solar thermal radiation, wind energy, geothermal energy, tidal wave, Biomass etc. There is numerous numbers of applications where we can use this energy and decrease the dependence on conventional grid

Abiotic Stress Responses in Plants: Roles of Calmodulin-Regulated Proteins

Intracellular changes in Ca2+, one of the important secondary messenger molecules, in response to different biotic and abiotic stimuli are detected by various sensor proteins in the plant cell. Calmodulin (CaM), one of the most extensively studied Ca2+-sensing proteins, is involved in the transduction of signals. Following interaction with Ca2+, the Ca2+-bound CaM (Ca2+-CaM) undergoes conformational change and regulates the activities of a diverse range of proteins. Several of the CaM-binding proteins are also implicated in stress response of plants, indicating that CaM plays an important role in enabling the plants to adapt to adverse environmental conditions. Stress adaptation in plants is a highly complex and multigenic response. Therefore, identification and characterization of proteins that are modulated by CaM under different abiotic stress conditions is imperative for unraveling the molecular mechanisms responsible for abiotic stress tolerance in plants. Functional characterization has revealed involvement of CaM in the regulation of metal ions uptake, generation of reactive oxygen species and modulation of transcription factors such as CAMTA3, GTL1 and WRKY39. Activities of several kinases and phosphatases are also modulated by CaM, thus providing further versatility to plants in signal transduction and stress responses. The results obtained in contemporary studies are consistent with the proposal that CaM acts as an integrator of several different stress signaling pathways that allow plants to maintain homeostasis through negative and positive regulation of different cellular processes. The present review summarizes the progress made so far in understanding the role of CaM in modulating different stress-regulated proteins and their implications in enhancing the tolerance of plants to abiotic stresses

Influence of early and delayed transplantation of paddy on physicochemical, pasting, cooking, textural, and protein characteristics of milled rice

Milled rice of four indica cultivars (PR114, PR116, PR118, and PAU201) obtained from early (June 5 and 15) and delayed (June 25 and July 5) transplanted paddy was evaluated for physicochemical, pasting, cooking, and protein characteristics. During the grain-filling and development stage, early transplanted paddy experienced average maximum and minimum temperatures of 32.8 and 22.3°C, respectively, against 30.8 and 15°C, respectively, for delayed transplanted paddy. Lightness (L) value, protein content, and lipid content of milled rice were lower, whereas apparent amylose content, cooked grain hardness, final viscosity, and setback viscosity were higher in the delayed transplanted paddy. Whiteness of milled rice of PR114, PR116, and PR118 from delayed transplanted paddy was lower than milled rice from early transplanted paddy. PAU201 did not show any change in whiteness with delayed transplantation. Cooked rice of PAU201 showed exceptionally higher adhesiveness and lower hardness compared with other cultivars. Protein profiling showed a lower accumulation of prolamines in milled rice from PR114 and PAU201 upon delaying the transplantation from June 5 to July 5, whereas PR116 and PR118 showed a decrease in prolamine accumulation from transplantation on June 25. The changes in milled rice caused by delayed transplanting of paddy might be because of cool nighttime air temperature that affected the accumulation of starch, protein, and lipid

Protein and starch characteristics of milled rice from different cultivars affected by transplantation date

The effects of transplantation date on milled rice (physicochemical, amino acids composition and protein profiling) of different cultivars and their starch characteristics (granules size distribution, pasting and thermal) were investigated. Head rice yield increased (2.0–4.1\ua0%) and chalky grains (5–10\ua0%) decreased with delaying the paddy transplantation of different cultivars by 20\ua0days. Delayed transplantation of paddy significantly increased asparagine, glutamine, threonine, cysteine, methionine, tryptophan, lysine and proline content in milled rice. Early transplantation of paddy showed higher accumulation of glutelin and prolamines than that in milled rice from delayed transplantation. The change in amino acid composition of milled rice with delay in transplantation was related to variation in accumulation of glutelin and prolamines. Starch from delayed transplanted paddy showed higher peak viscosity and lower breakdown viscosity than those from early transplanted paddy. These differences were due to higher accumulation of amylose in starch from delayed transplanted paddy than that from early transplanted paddy due to exposure of former to lower night air temperature during starch synthesis

Effect of different doses of nitrogen on protein profiling, pasting and quality attributes of rice from different cultivars

Effect of different level (60, 120 and 180\ua0kg\ua0N/ha) of nitrogen (N) application on protein profiling, pasting and cooking quality characteristics of milled rice from different paddy cultivars was evaluated. N dose showed positive correlation with protein content and negative correlation with L*, whiteness and amylose content. N application significantly affected the protein profile, textural and pasting properties of different cultivars. All the cultivars expect PR120 and PAU201, showed an increase in the amount of accumulation of 60\ua0kDa polypeptide with increase in N application. Accumulation of prolamines (16 and 14\ua0kDa) and polypeptides of 38 and 35\ua0kDa increased in all the cultivars. Size exclusion chromatography revealed decrease in low molecular weight subunits and increase in medium molecular weight subunits in all the cultivars upon N application. However, high molecular weight subunits increased in IET21214 and decreased in PR120 and PAU20 upon N application. N application resulted in increase in glutelins and decrease in peak and breakdown viscosity. PAU201 and PR120 showed lower AAC due to low accumulation of 60\ua0kDa granule-bound starch synthase (GBSS), in response to N application. Gumminess and hardness of cooked rice increased with the increase in N dose and the increase was significant at 60\ua0kg\ua0N/ha